Shropshire charity shops in plea for donations after raids leave staff 'heartbroken'
Shropshire charity shop volunteers have been picking up the pieces after three shops on the same street were all burgled in one night.
They also say they are in desperate need of donations to replace stock.
The Oxfam, Sue Ryder Care and Barnardo’s shops on Cheshire Street in Market Drayton were all broken into on Sunday night.
A front window at the Oxfam shop was damaged and a safe taken. The charity said it was its fourth in the area to be broken into over the Christmas period, with Newport, Wellington and Stafford also hit.
At the beginning of December, six Oxfam clothing banks and two book banks across Cheshire and Shropshire were also stolen.
As a result of the burglaries and thefts the charity is “desperately” short of donations to restock its shops and is appealing for help.
Carla Siswick, Oxfam’s area manager, said: “As well as the money taken and the physical damage done in these break-ins, there is also a toll on the morale of our volunteers who give up their time to raise as much money as possible to support Oxfam’s work fighting poverty.
“With the theft earlier in December of clothing and book banks, we are desperately short of donations of good quality clothing and homewares.
“As we begin the new year, we’d be very grateful for any donated goods from the local community to help us restock the shops and get back to raising funds for Oxfam’s vital work including helping those left homeless by the recent cyclone in the Philippines or without food or clean water in the conflict in Yemen.”
Thieves also took a safe containing more than £400 from the Sue Ryder Care shop.
Covering manager Nicky McDaid said she was the first member of the team on the scene. She found the broken window and the safe ripped from its moorings at about 7.30am on Monday, describing it as “heartbreaking”.
A few days on, with the window boarded up and business continuing as normal, she said: “It’s a bit soul-destroying.
“All the work and effort you put in, it gets taken away from you like that.
“It’s not a great deal of money but it’s for a charity.”
Meanwhile a spokesperson for Barnardo’s said that burglars caused more than £2,000 worth of damage when they burgled the shop in Cheshire Street.
